Trussed brake beam and/or brake head



Dec. 10, 1946. QR. BUSCH 2,412,388

TRUSSED BRAKE BEAM AND/OR BRAKE HEAD Original Filed Aug. 5, 1943 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 v I 1 .1. 0 57 78 T Z0 .57

, INVENTOR I [IV/4 22': f farce BY ATTORNEY Dec. 10, 1946;

C.-R. BUSCH TRUSSED BRAKE BEAM AND/OR BRAKE HEAD 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Original Filed Aug. 5, 1945 lNVENTOR (Zpzezz: fiaia ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 10, 1946 TRUSSED- BRAKE BEAM AND/OR BRAKE HEAD Charles R. Busch, Orange, N. J assignor to Buffalo Brake Beam Company, New York, N. Y., a: corporation. of. New York Original application August 5, 1943,, Serial No. 497,418, new Patent No. 2,398,918, dated April 23, 1946'. Divided and this application June 16', 1944, SeriatNo. 540,656

Claims. (01. 188-226) This application is a division of my application, Serial No. 497,418, filed August: 5, 119.43,. and issued as Patent No. 2,398,918 on Apr, 23, 1946, and relates more particularly to: a. universal lock for either end of the truss of abrake. beam and to a preferably symmetrical, removable brake head, the lock and the head being each adapted to be used at both ends of the beam,.that is each may serve as a: right and also as: a left; and the head in either case preferably adapted to fit onto the lock.

Aspecific object of the present invention: isto adapt such kinds of locks and brake heads for use on the present compression. member, tens on rod or member, strut. and tension nuts: of the standard truss brake beams. now generally in service on the: American railroads; according to the requirements of the AmericanAssociation of Railroads; to which end such locksv and brake heads, serving as they do under the present in.- vention, are so constructed and arranged that a beam provided w th them may be hung from the usual pair of swinging hangers without their interfering with the proper serving: of the'hangers, while at the same time the faces of. the. heads will have the desired bevel to cause the brake shoes to have the: same bevel. and to correspond with the bevel of thewheels,

With these and. other objects in vi ew, the present invention. consists of; certain; features. of construction and. combinations of parts to be here-' inafter described and claimed, with: reference. to the accompanyingdrawings showing; apreferred embodiment of the invention in which-- Figure 1 is a plan View of a truss. brake beam provided with the present improvements and? hung in. braking position, parts broken: away and. in section, and parts in broken lines;

Figure .2 is; a front elevation of Figure 1, as viewed in the direction indicated'by the arrow;

Figure 3 is an enlarged end: view of the beam, partly in broken lines and partly in section, part of, the; head being; broken. away, but in. this View the brake head is. shown in squared upor straight elevation instead of-in the canted or inclined position when the beam is hung as in Figures 1 and 2;

- Figure 4' is: a sectionv on line 4-4, Figure 3 as viewed in the direction indicatedby-the-arrows Figure 5' is a section on line 5.--5, Figure 3', as viewed inthe directionindicated by the arrows;

Figure; dis a section. on line. 6-4;, Figure 3, as viewed in thedirection indicated by the arrows;

Figure 7"is: a section on linel|,.Fig-ure- 3, as viewed in the direction indicated by the arrows;

and:

Figure 9 is. a side. elevation of. the lock, partly in vertical section.

In the aforesaid application. Serial No. 497,418, of which this one is a division, reference numbers were used which, so far as. applicable will be, repeated herein, andv while the-truss look was not claimed. in association-with. the peculiar brake head of this application,-it' willlfirstbea described herein before describing the brake head.

The compression member l and; the tension rod 2 are or may be .of; any desired form having their opposite-ends inserted into and fixedintrrss locks 10 by the well known adjusting nuts; which bear; as usual upon the nut seating surfaces of the locks, all asshown in Figures 1, 2-and 4, a v

truss look if! being shown in detail in and 9;.

Each truss lockJlJ is of general rectangular shape and is internally constructed. to receiveand seat the ends of the members I and 2, and at the end opposite the nut seat, that is the end which is innermoston. the brake beam, it is'p'rovided with a reinforcing. flange; ll. includingra back. portion. 12 and upper and lower portions I3, 14', respectively, but neither of the last two extend beyond the front of the lock, inasmuch. as. it is intended that said lock be used as botha right and as a left, so that: it may be: applied to either end of the beam; If said flange por ti on's extended beyond the front face of thelook there would usually be interferencewith the brake hangers. Such construction makes the lock auniversal one; instead of using entirely separate dissimilar locks toserve only as a right look for one end of. the beam and another lock to serve only as aleft.

The inner end of the universal truss lock 10 is provided with two-inclined edges 15, 1.6", which slant in opposite directions and which if con tinued would converge in front of the lock, and they form the forward surfaces of the. flange portions 13', 14, such inclines extendingalong the opposite ends of a forwardly projecting, auxiliary, reinforcing flange Tl, located at, and symmetrically with. respect to, the front of the lock, the inclines tending to converge in a central horizontal planewhich bisects the lock. Therefore, when the position of thelock is reversed by turn ing it upside down at either end of the beam', as indicated by Figure 1, it will serve at either end and provide clearancefor eachhanger ofthe beam.

In Figures 1' to lfinclusive, each brake head It? Figures 8 is provided with a sleeve or housing 18 which flts onto its respective truss lock 10, the head being fixed in position thereon by means of a malleable key which is driven between the back wall of the sleeve and the back of said lock, and then the driving end of the key is upset. Then the inner side surfaces of the heads will be up against the reinforcing flanges of the truss lock, The wall of the hanger opening 79 of the brake head and which is located between the shoe lugs [8 18, has two lengthwise conical flares 80, 8!,

which enlarge in opposite directions with their smaller ends meeting at the central vertical plane between and parallel with the opposite sides of the head. Thus, the wall of the hanger opening is peripherally contracted at the "mid-length. The shape of each of the flares may be said to be semi-frusto-conical in general.

In Figures 3 and 4 the brake hanger is shown at the left end of the brake beam, with its side arms 82, 83, at opposite sides of the'head'lli, and

its lower cross bar 84 positioned in the hanger when the brake beam is actually hung in using position, as in Figure 1, the cross bar 84 of the leftlianger will have its half portion extending from arm 82 in anearv approach and in more or less bearing contact with the flaring wall'8l, while its other half portion will be a greater distance away from theflaring wall 80. Also, when the beam is hung in using position from the right hanger the inwardly canted brake head at that end willso orient the cross bar of that hanger that the half of the cross bar84 adjoining the arm82 at that end will .be closer to the flare 80 and the other half willbe further away from flare'BI. Hence, it will be seen that the same brakehead 18' may be used as a right and also as a left; It can be stated in other words that, to permit of such relative positions of the parts stated, the hanger opening '19 enlarges outwardly from its approximate mid-length to its opposite ends, in the horizontal plane of the longitudinal axis of the cross barpositioned therein as well as tofa reasonable distancesabove such plane.

' In Figure 7 a'broken line 85indicates that when a proper hanger is used to suspend the brake beam, its side arm 83 lies partly in front of the forwardly projecting reduced reinforcement H on the adjacent end of the truss lock, and hence the desirability of cutting off or omitting the upper and lower'corners of a reinforcing flange which would otherwise extend fully around that end of the-lock'is made evident.

If the bevels of the car wheels to be braked are at'an' angle of one in twenty degrees, which is byv far ordinarily the case, then the surface along each of the flares 80, 8|, of the hanger opening with relation to the center or axis of the opening should'lie at least at such angle, and the contracted throat between said flares should not so closely hug the central portion of the hanger at an angle of one degree in twenty or to prevent upward seating of the hanger cross bar at each end of the beam. Under such conditions, if one and thesame brake head is applied to either end 1 of the beam a hanger will'operate freely at right angles to the rail and will offset the inclination 1 of the toeing in of the head.

Should a better bearing and seating of the hanger cross bar be necessary in the hanger opening in the brake head the opening may have the slightly different shape shown by broken lines in Figures 1 and ,2. Here the narrow upper lip 86 of the hanger opening has two flares complementary to but extending in opposite directions from the flares 80, 8|, as indicated in Figure 1,

; while at the top of the opening there is a longitudinal flat surface 81, as indicated in Figure 2,

which should be so developedin width that there is a full bearing of the hanger cross bar on such surface for substantially its entire length because thehanger andhead at each end of the beam 7 have the two differentrelative positions shown at both ends of said figures. I In Jsuchfcase the flat surface 81 would have inward wedge shaped tapers merging at their smaller'inward ends. Itwill be obvious to those skilled in the art that the described and illustrated invention-is susceptible to more or lessmodification and still be within the scope of the'appended claims.

What I claim as new is: f 1. A car brake head provided with shoe lugs and having a forwardly open transverse hanger opening there between,.thewall of the opening flaring at the back surface toward opposite ends of the opening, and such back surface being furthest away from the head lugs to provide a head usableas both' a right headand as alefthead.

2. A car brake head having a forwardly open transverse hanger opening, theback surface of the Wall of the opening being peripherally contracted at its approximate mid-length, and such peripheral contraction gradually becoming less toward the upper and lower surfaces of the wall to provide a head usable as a right headand as aleft head.

3.'A car brake head providedwith shoe lugs and having a forwardly open transversehanger opening there between, thewall of the opening flaring principally at the back surface toward opposite ends of the opening with the same degree of flare at each end to provide a head usable as both a right head and as a left head; in combination with a brake beamhanger'whose lower cross bar is located in the opening and extends at an angle inclined to a vertical plane between' 'and equidistant from the opposite lateral sides of the head, the distance "between the outer endof the cross bar and'theflare opposite that end being less than the distance of the inner endbf the bar from the other flare when the hanger and head are in using position."

4. A car brake head provided with shoedugs and having'a forwardly opentransverse hanger tween and equidistant from the opposite lateral" sides ofthe head, the back surface of the' wall of cross bar as to prevent the brake head when used at eitherend of'the beam from canting inwardly the opening being at a degree of slant of each of the flares approximating 1 degree in 20, andthe degree of inclination of said cross bar in' relation to such vertical plane corresponding with such degree whether the head is used as a right hand one or a left hand one.

5. A trussed hanger-supportable brake beam, including a compression member and an adjustable tension member, a universal and interchange truss lock at each end of the beam and having a reinforcing vertical flange at the front of its inner end, the flange partly removed or absent at both its upper and lower ends to render the lock reversible to serve either as a right look or as a left lock and to provide clearance means for brake hangers at each end of the beam, in combination with brake heads rigidly fixed to the locks, each adapted to serve as a right and as a left head, each head having its hanger opening located in advance of such flange and between the clearance means of its respective lock, and each hanger opening being peripherally contracted at its approximate mid-length by flaring its wall outwardly from the mid-length toward the opposite ends of the opening, whereby to accommodate hangers which in use lie substantially at right angles to the rails.

6. In a brake beam, the combination of a truss having locking means therefor at each end and including lock members of the same universal construction at each end thereof which serve either as a right or as a left, brake hangers the lower bars of which are at right angles to the rails when the hangers are in use, and symmetrical brake heads fixed on the locking members and which are canted forwardly in vertical converging planes, each brake head being identical with the other and having an opening receiving the lower bar of its respective hanger, and the openings being contracted at their approximate mid-lengths and formed to accommodate the hanger bars although the brake heads lie in such canted planes.

'7. A car brake head of symmetrical shape having a hanger opening which enlarges outwardly in opposite directions from its approximate midlength to its ends in the horizontal plane of the longitudinal axis of the cross bar of a hanger, which is to pass therethrough, whereby the head is adapted for use as both a right and a left.

8. In a railway truss type brake beam, arranged for application to a pair of wheels having treads inclined to their common axis, and having a compression member and a tension member converging at the ends of the beam, an end member seated on each end of the compression member and surrounding the adjacent end portion of the tension member and having a head seating element inclined to the longitudinal axis of the beam similarly to the inclination of the portions of the wheel treads to which the beam is applied, a tensioning device seated on each end member and engaging said portion and holding said members assembled, and a brake head mounted on each end member and having a bearing on said seat and having a forwardly facing recess for receiving the cross bar of a swing hanger whereby the beam may be supported, the shoe-mounting face of the head being inclined from the longitudinal aXis of the beam to be parallel to the tread of a wheel with which the beam is associated and the axis of which is at a different level than the beam, the head being symmetrical about a vertical axis and applicable to the end member at either end of the beam, and means securing the head to the end member independently of the tensioning device.

9. The combination of a railway brake beam and a hanger for pivotally supporting the beam from the truck frame so as to swing squarely transversely of the longitudinal axis of the beam to and from wheels to which it is applicable, a brake head on each end of the beam, each head having its shoe-mounting face inclined from the longitudinal axis of the beam so as to parallel the inclined tread of the adjacent wheel, each head having a recess receiving the hanger cross bar, the inner side of which recess is inclined from its ends towards the middle of the head to accommodate the inclination of the shoemounting face of the head to the axis of the beam, irrespective of the end of the beam to which the head is applied.

10. A railway brake beam head having a recess open at one side for receiving the cross bar of a hanger by which the head and-the beam on which it is mounted is suspended, the closed side of the recess being inclined towards the open side from the ends of the recess at the sides of the head to the center of the head to accommodate the inclination of the shoe-mounting face of the head from the axis of the hanger cross bar so that the head may be applied to either end of the beam with its shoe-mounting face parallel to the tread of a car wheel inclined to the axis.

CHARLES R. BUSCH. 

